Structure and community diversity of small mammals in plague natural focus of Yulong County and Gucheng District

Objective To provide basis for plague prevention and control by investigating in structure and community diversity of small mammals in plague natural focus of Yulong County and Gucheng District in Yunnan Province.Methods We captured rodents for species identification according to the plague surveillance scheme in the 18 natural villages of Yulong County and 9 villages in Gucheng District of Lijiang City. The structure,diversity index,evenness index,dominance index and richness index were calculated with the method of community ecology.Results A total of 12 219 small mammals of 23 species were captured,which belonged14 genera,6 families and 3 orders,including rodentia of 16 species,8 genera,3 families; insectivora of 6 species,5genera,2 families; Scandentia of 1 species,1 genera,1 families. The results of 3 different ecological habitats analysis on diversity of small mammal communities showed the diversity index( Shannon- Wiener) was from 1. 1489 to 1. 4930; evenness index( Pielou) was from 0.3899 to 0.5513; dominance index( Simpson) was from 0.3139 to 0.4460; Richness index( Margalef) was from 2.0314 to 2.3119. The comparative result of similarity index( Whittaker) of community showed that the residential area and farming land shared the high similarity; residential area and the forest land and farming land shared medium similarity. Conclusion Apodemus chevrieri,Eothenomys miletus,Eothenomys proditor,Crocidura attenuate,Apodemus latronum homas,Rattas norvegicus,Temminck are dominance species in the plague natural focus. Residential area and farming land share the high similarity; residential area and the forest land and farming land share medium similarity.